Hide and Seek
by Lithia Sunset
Summary: Nearly 3 years have passed since N left, & White was devastated. A third party tries to keep them apart but only succeeds in throwing them together. Someone starts framing N for various crimes, including murder,& and Ghetsis is involved again, but not in ways anyone would expect. What would White be willing to go through and give to protect N? What else will they have to face?
1. Gone Baby Gone

**AN: All of her party members have names. I know that Yin and Yang are reversed here, but there is a reason for that. All truths have Ideals and all Ideals have truth, and when they meet in the middle they mix like fire and water, and a little of one is in the other. So they have the opposite. Also, if there are some readers who have problems keeping the names straight, I will post a list at the start or end of each chapter, or PM you the list. Zekrom and Reshiram are not always referred to by therir nicknames; the names and nicknames are used equally, but this is only done with them because of who they are.**

**Ch.1: Gone Baby Gone**

"N!" White screamed as he disappeared from her life through a hole in the crumbling wall. Her outstretched hand grasped at empty space which he had occupied mere moments beforehand. She heard the slap of Reshiram's wings as she took flight. White rushed forward to crane her neck around the jutting jumble or stone and masonry. N's green hair rippled in the wind. Reshiram's wing gusts knocked White back against a protruding beam, a sharp cry of pain accompanying the audible crack of a few of her ribs breaking. Her team crowded around each other a few feet away, doe-eyed and worried.

Upon witnessing her distress, they rushed forward. Zekrom-now Yin- bent his great head and muzzled the crown of her skull tenderly, ruffling her hair with his breath. Darla, the Darmanitan, and Sprinkle, the Simipour, each sat by her and took a hand each: Darla her left and Sprinkle her right. Szev, the Serperior, laid his head by hers, tears brimming. Belectra, the Zebstrika, was openly crying. Yuna began to shroud White in dream mist. A mirror-image of N appeared, but quickly flickered out when White's trembling and silent tears began.  
White curled into a fetal position and simply held herself together, feeling as though her chest were being slowly crushed. Her pokémon had grown fond of him as well, and their common agony mingled. The gilded throne room doors boomed open.

"N, brother, where are you?"  
White kept her teary eyes shut even as she spoke. "He's gone," she whispered brokenly. "N is gone."  
A sharp intake of breath. The birth of spontaneous weeping. More calling for N. More weeping.  
White sat up weakly, breathing raggedly. Concordia and Anthea were holding each other and sobbing into the other's hair. White stumbled up, wincing and grunting in pain. Her team moved forward.

"No!" she shouted. She recalled them all, save Yin. "Come."  
After hearing his voice when he was summoned from the stone, she was already used to it.  
_'Mistress, you are injured...'_  
"I'm well enough. My pain is of no concern."  
_'A storm is rising. I fear that if we leave now...'_  
"I don't bloody care. I have to find him. It's imperative-"  
A resounding boom of thunder and a vibrant display of lightening interrupted her, crackling against the night air.  
_'No one is going anywhere, White, not in this weather.'_  
_He_ growled as the sky opened up, spilling the Earth with tears of its own.  
"We'll lose their scent trail, Yin! And the farther they are away...-"  
_'Better than being dashed against a cliff face or the like out in that,'_ he growled sarcastically. _'You have a lifetime to find him.'_  
"And still may never achieve the goal," she snapped bitterly.  
She spent the night at the castle to wait out the storm. Anthea and Concordia offered her a room near them, but she refused, instead climbing into N's vacant Snorlax bed. She pulled up the pokémon-decorated sheets and buried her head into the mattress and pillow. Her little family slept around her, barring Yin: they were either on top of or underneath the covers, or sprawled on the floor beside it. The quiet dark soothed her into a fitful slumber.

White was greeted in the morning by the steady dribbling of an after-storm rain shower. She laid in bed staring at the ceiling and walls for an hour or so before finally rolling onto her feet. Szev rose up, blinking groggily. Sprinkle's dreadlock-like head poked out of the mass of blankets. Darla and Belectra were snoozing side by side on a rug, while Yuna had stretched out on one of the pillows

White smiled sadly and went to shower. She cleaned up her pokémon, brushing and grooming them lovingly. It was just before dawn: time to leave. Sighing, she called them back, preparing to step into the corridor.

Miles out, a white dragon flapped slowly through the steady rain. Her rider's slicked green locks clung to his drenched clothes and skin. The air was icy at this altitude.  
"Did I do the right thing, Yang? She was my only friend. I don't know much about human emotions or relationships, but I can't help this feeling. Is this guilt?"  
Reshiram remained silent beneath him, falling and rising in a rhythmic pattern with each wingbeat. Her body rumbled neutrally. _'She'll wait for you to return if she is truly your friend. And she will forgive you. She has already taken her quest. Now it is your turn.'_  
"Do you think I'll see her again?"  
_'I'm sure you will, N. I'm sure of it.'_

Yin touched down in a clearing just outside of Nuvema Town. White slid off of his back and landed with a soft thump. It had been two months, and she had rounded up the Seven Sages for Looker. It was her duty to protect the people of Unova now. She was their Champion and Hero, practically their leader. And she was going to be like Alder. Wandering Champion Alder.

Yin's muscles rippled in the bright sunlight as he bent to speak. _'I think I'll wait out here, if it's all the same to you.'_  
White nodded distractedly, gazing at the sun. She turned and ran home. A home without N. She approached the front door slowly.

She extricated her key and turned it in the lock. The talons slid back into place and she pushed the door open with her shoulder. She expected exclamations of surprise or delight, or perhaps a chid or two. She did not expect silence. White gazed around her empty house and slumped against the door jam. Where was everyone ? Feeling empty, she let the rest of her team out and climbed the stairs to her room, where she locked the door behind her and pinned up blackout curtains.

White drifted around her room listlessly. Sitting on her bed, she gazed morosely out of her window. She was still there when she heard the door open and close downstairs that evening.

Cheren and Bianca had searched for White after the last battle of what would late be called the First Plasma War. Everyone from Professor Juniper to Looker to the Champion had been searching for her. Even children had. It wasn't that they were worried. They knew she was capable. It was the fact that her Region, her people, needed to see their Hero. She was the new head and face of Unova, and people were slow to forget that.

Cheren and Bianca had just been at the Professor's lab with White's mother, River, and her twin, Black.  
"Hey, wasn't the door unlocked when we came in just now?" Cheren asked, frowning. He stood in the entryway. River was already in the kitchen, preparing refreshments for them all, and Bianca was in the parlor.  
"Oh, I don't know, Cheren, why?" River called distractedly.  
"Because I'm sure you locked it when we left, Mrs. Shale."  
Right then, a board overhead creaked. Cheren's hand went to his belt where his team was clipped.  
"Did either of you happen to hear that?" he inquired, narrowing his eyes and adjusting his glasses.  
Bianca poked her head through the doorway.  
"It kind of sounded like it came from White's room, didn't it?"  
"My thoughts exactly."  
Bianca blinked passively. "Well, maybe White came home and just wants to be left alone."  
"Or maybe it's Ghetis, come after River," Cheren replied darkly.  
They looked long and hard at each other, nodded, and then began creeping in sync towards the stairs. Cheren put his finger to his lips and Bianca nodded.

The two stopped outside of their friend's room door. Cheren held up his fingers. He put them down one at a time in a countdown. On "three", they tried the door. It was locked.  
"White, is that you?" Bianca queried timidly.

White blinked. She shook her head, stood up, and opened the door.  
"OMG, WHITE IT IS YOU!" her blonde friend exclaimed, crushing her in her embrace. White put on a tender smile for the girl. She turned to Cheren with the same fixed expression and gave him a hug.  
"Is mom with you guys?"  
"River's down stairs fixing refreshments," Bianca supplied. "We didn't know you'd come home."  
Cheren always called River "Mrs. Shale", but Bianca habitually used her given name.

The trio descended the stairs together. Their pokémon played and chattered just like they used to. White was distant and less responsive than usual. Eventually, her two friends left and she retired for the night. White fell into what was classified as depression. She never left her locked room, barely spoke to anyone, and hardly ate. River finally begged her to come out, but it just pained everyone to see her. She became sallow skinned, with wild, unruly hair and sizable violet rings under her darkening eyes.

The month ended. June came. July crept by.

August.

September.

One evening, White stumbled down the stairs. She had heard voices again. She stopped in the hallway and hid in the shadows.  
"...just so worried about her," her mother was saying.  
"I am too," Cheren remarked.  
Bianca's little-girl's voice piped up. "You don't think she's lost it, do you? She changed after that battle..."  
"She changed after _him_," Cheren corrected scornfully. White flinched in her hiding place.  
"Now Cheren, I don't think-"  
"He did something to her, I know he did! He-he broke he somehow, inside, and even though she won, she's still lost."  
The room grew quiet. The chairs creaked. Someone stood.  
"Well, I think I should be going now, River..."  
"I'm leaving as well, Mrs. Shale."  
White scampered back to her room and tried to close the door quietly. Cheren glanced up the hall to her room just as she managed to do so.

White relocked her door and sat in the floor with her back against it. She knew she was being stupid, but he left, maybe forever, and this time, she didn't have a chance to cock her head sassily to the side and say, "To be continued?"  
This time they hadn't locked eyes before parting. This time she truly had no idea where he could be, or if he was alive, and his being a thousand miles away or across a sea left a chasm a thousand long miles deep in her heart. This time she couldn't peek at him shyly from underneath her long lashes, or wish they could hug again before they were enemies again. This time she hadn't asked when, where, or if they would meet. This time he was just gone.


	2. The Great Perhaps

**Ch.2: The Great Perhaps**

The trees seemed to breathe gently over N's head as he slept. Reshiram sat up, stargazing, eyes glowing blue in the moonlight. N whimpered in his sleep. He had named her Yang. She moved to comfort him, but in the next instant he was smiling sadly, a single tear dancing down his pale cheek. He was dreaming. Yang went back to her restless stargazing.

"To be continued?" the girl asked, cocking her eyebrows at him. White, her name was White, and he needed to start using it. Cheren thought he was a weird bother that talked too fast. White had been drawn to him, and found him intriguing, so when  
she sprinted after him and grabbed his arm to ask if she could accompany him, she had hoped, but believed he would not, say yes. N had been delighted.  
He glanced at her every so often. They climbed over a dead tree, helping each other.  
"You're different from Cheren."  
White snorted. "I should hope so. He's so uptight."  
"He seems to hate me."  
"He does _not_!"  
"He does, I could tell. But I don't like him either, so we're even."  
N paused. "I like you, though," he mused.  
"Really?" White asked as he held a tree branch out of her way.  
The sunny day dissolved to a rainy one. He was on his way to Nacrene City. He heard footsteps and ducked behind a tree to look. It was White. Her feet seemed to splash in every puddle as she ran headlong through the rain. A wild pokémon appeared and he watched her battle and train. He almost revealed himself, but thought better of it and continued with his mission. It was with little surprise that he bumped into her coming out of the combined gym and museum.  
"Ouch, crap! I'm really sor-N, is that you?" she exclaimed softly, brushing her damp bangs out of her eyes.  
He noticed that her hair curled up when it got wet. He reached out wordlessly and trapped a lock between his fingers. "Your hair..."  
She laughed, eying his hand. "Yeah, I know..."  
He dropped it, flicking droplets onto his own shirt. White jerked her head at the building behind him. "Enjoying yourself?"  
N shrugged, moving so he was out of the doorway. She followed him under an eave. "As much as one can without you," he teased. White smiled at him. It made him happy that he could make her smile. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes, and, balancing precariously, managed to whisper in his ear. Her sweet breath tickled the side of his face. "You're it," she whispered, swiftly hopping out of reach and giggling.  
"It?" he queried bemusedly. White's smile dropped momentarily.  
"You mean to tell me that you've never played tag?"  
He shook his head no. So she sat him down and explained. N laughed afterwards. "It's like being a pokémon!"  
White smiled and looked him up and down. "Yes, yes it is."  
She hugged him briefly, speaking softly into his ear. "By the way, N, you're still it," she whispered. She leapt up and ran. And he chased her.

Her hair bounced on her back as she ran. Suddenly she slipped in a puddle and went sprawling. N slowed down. His breath caught in his throat when she gazed up at him with rain drops dangling from her long lashes, mud splattered and soaking, her wildly curling hair clinging to her shoulders. He held his hand out to her.  
She smiled, took it and pulled him into the mud. They laughed together in the middle of the street. That day was gone.

The Ferris Wheel in Nimbasa gleamed in the twilight as N stood back to take it all in.  
"N?"  
That voice. Her voice. He would know it anywhere. He turned to her. Her head tilted to the side. "Isn't the city lovely at twilight? I've missed you, N."  
His heart beat painfully. She missed him. She missed him and after tonight she might be repulsed by him.  
He began babbling his offer to her awkwardly. "You're looking for Team Plasma, right? They ran into the amusement park. Come with me. They're not here. Let's ride the Ferris Wheel and see if we can spot them. I love Ferris Wheels. The circular motion... The mechanics... They're like collections of elegant formulas."  
White was used to his fast-paced speech and his love of complicated structures. She smiled. "Of course I'll ride with you, N. Aren't we friends?"  
N observed her sadly. "Of course we are, White."  
He allowed her to climb in first. The machine started moving. "I thought about what I might see up here for a long time," she told him, eyes shinning.  
"Have you?" he murmured. She nodded.  
"White..."  
White faced him, laying her head on his shoulder. "What is it, N."  
"I have something to tell you."  
He picked up her hand and turned it over. He could feel her eyes on him.  
"You don't have to suffer in silence. You're so sad, N, and sorrow doesn't suit you."  
He sighed. "I don't know how to explain, or make you understand."  
"Tell me and let me try on my own first."  
"First, I must tell you... I am the king of Team Plasma. Ghetsis asked me to work with him to save Pokémon. I wonder how many Pokémon exist in this world..."  
She gasped and he was afraid to look at her.  
"N, look at me."  
He felt her small, surprisingly soft hand on his face. "N, please look at me."

His eyes met hers. He expected to see hurt in them, and pain. He did. He searched for betrayal or hatred. They weren't there. White held him in her sights. "You're joking, right? You're bloody joking?"  
When he didn't contradict himself, she fell silent.  
"_Et tu_, N?" she whispered. He closed his eyes. She had to make it worse.  
"White, I don't want you to hate me-"  
"I don't."  
He glanced at her quickly. Her voice was thick with tears and she was biting her lip.  
"I could never hate you, N, and I don't want things to change, despite all of this, do you?"  
"No, but they will."  
The next memory surfaced.  
"I'm glad we got to continue," White playfully yet halfheartedly teased. N said nothing. He stood and set his hat, shoes, and overshirt on the stump he'd been sitting on. Then he slid down the bank and jumped straight into the water. White shrank away.  
"No, N!"  
"Don't you trust me, White?" he asked in an injured tone of voice.  
"I-I...can't swim," she confessed, hanging her head.  
"Well why don't we fix that? I'll teach you. Just put your things on top of mine."  
She opened her mouth to protest. He put his hand up. "I won't let you go."

White hesitated only a moment longer. Then she put her shoes, hat and vest on the stump. N was still waiting. He held a hand out to her. White gulped and accepted. He led her to the center.  
"I think first you should get used to the feel of it," N mused.  
"Well how would I go about doing that?" White asked curiously. N reached behind her head and let her hair loose. "Floating," he replied simply.  
"_Floating_? But how?"  
"I'll...hold you," he replied, not noticing her blush. He slowly put his arms around White and tilted her so he could cradle her close to him. Her hair spread out in dark brown waves around her when her back brushed through the surface of the water. N revolved slowly, supporting her head and knees.  
"See, White? The ripples are formed with elegant expressions..."  
White relaxed in his hold. She felt so light that she was almost convinced she was a bird pokémon in  
flight.  
"I'll never let you go, Ludvina Whitelea Shale."  
The quiet was interrupted by shouting in the distance. "N, our Lord N, where are you?"  
N's movements stilled. White opened her eyes; she hadn't even been aware that she'd closed them. He sighed. For half an hour, it had been like the days before. He picked her up and carried her to shore. They slipped up the rocks and sat down to put their shoes on. "When will I see you again?"  
His hands slowed. "Sooner than you think, White."  
Their meetings were fewer and far between than before. She touched the back of his hand. "To be continued?"  
N stared at her. They were both standing. N looked over his shoulder as his name was shouted again. When he glanced back around, White was just  
wrapping him into a hug. After a moment, he hugged her back.

N woke with a start, tears cascading down his pale face.

White laced up her running shoes and pulled her cap down over her hair. Her bag sat by her door. She had thought about climbing down the trellis, but if she fell, then everything she hoped to accomplish would vanish into thin air.  
With her party on her belt and her bag on her shoulder, she cracked her room door open. White cocked her head to the side, listening intently. She opened it all the way and stole to her mother's room. She inched the door open and peered inside. Her mother was asleep with her Stoutland, Axew, and Ivysaur in bed with her.  
White glided to the bed and bent over, kissing her mother on the cheek. River and her pokémon slept on, Axew snoring softly. White left her room and closed the door. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself, and then she stepped outside of her house and locked the door, looking at it for the last time before she embarked.


	3. Friction

**Ch.3: Friction**

It had been nearly three long years since she had seen him. White watched the seasons change indifferently. It was frigid in the snowcapped mountains, but she knew it would be spring in her beloved Unova. She was known as the Far Wandering Champion, and just like Alder, The Wandering Champion, she traveled to relieve her pain, only pronounced as living by the occasional random sighting. The difference was that she didn't merely wander: she searched.

The fire Darla had lit earlier crackled forlornly. White could hear her party members feet stomping, crunching the snow. Her only means of communication had broken a month into her search. Shivering, White huddled with her comrades and slept.

Something was pecking at her face and hands. Screeching, White protested her unwelcome awakening by flailing blindly at her badgerer. Cries echoed throughout the cavern.  
"Stop, it stop-! Sprinkle, help me! Use Scald!"  
In an instant the threat was removed. Surprisingly, the battle cries were replaced by affectionate cooing.

White opened her eyes. Her team was surrounding a ruffled and snow-laden Unfezent. The Unfezent shook itself and turned to her. It's eyes were unusual: green flecked with gold. White's breath caught.  
"Pi?" she asked uncertainly.  
He dipped his head to her. She crawled over to him and hugged him, stroking his feathers. She had been forced to convince him to stay in Nuvema when confronted with obtaining Zekrom because she hadn't had an empty slot. It had been a painful task. He rubbed his head against her and offered the teen his scaly leg.

A letter was tied to it. Frowning, White loosened the knot and brought it into the light. It had no return address, but it was clearly to her, as her name was written on the front in an unfamiliar slanted script She turned it over. What she saw made her stomach drop out. It was sealed and stamped with the Plasma Crest and Coat of Arms. With trembling fingers, she broke it and shook the contents out. Two pieces of paper fluttered into her lap. Her hands scrambled to unfold the first, which had an additional seal, a Zorua with wings. Her eyes latched onto the first word and became hooked.

_My dearest Whitelea, it has been so long, and finally I feel enlightened and absolved of my sins. Once, we were close. Let us renew old ties and forget our debts. I cannot tell you how eagerly I have awaited our reunion. Two years I wandered, seeking the Great Perhaps and Truth, and now I seek you ever more fervently._

_Last year, I returned, hoping to amend our loss. I missed you every day. I still miss you. I regret leaving you, but not the outcome, for though there was what seemed to be an impassable sea of agony, our dawn will be like no other. Ghetsis returned, but was defeated by a new Protector, who now holds the title that both you and Sir Alder gave away to wander for your own separate purposes. Team Plasma is a complicated affair now. Concordia and Anthea told me what transpired at the castle after I left, and you don't know how wounded I am by your pain. I cannot being to understand your suffering, but I hope we can be like we used to be._

_Please, as my dearest friend, forgive me. I cannot begin to thank you for everything you've done for me. Return, and you shall know the depth of my feelings._

_I hope one day we shall see each other again._

_Yours Always,_  
_Natural Harmonia Gropius_

After reading it, White fainted straightaway, the letter from N clutched tightly in her fist.

N was sitting staring out at the starry heavens through the massive hole in the Throne Room. He held an Emolga plushie in his lap, twiddling with the ears. He smiled softly as he recalled how he had come to possess it.

He and White, on one of their many excursions, had went to a colorful market or festival of sone kind that came with the Motley Folk, the strolling players of Unova. She had bought if for his birthday and spent the entire week by his side. And she had slept on it. When they went stargazing, she had fallen asleep lightly grasping it for a pillow. Sometimes he could almost smell her shampoo, or so he imagined.

A noise behind him startled him out of his nostalgic reverie. N scrambled up hopefully. Maybe White had already gotten to his castle? His heart swelled with disappointment, bewilderment, and shock when he met the cold, calculating gaze of Cheren.  
"C-Cheren?" N quavered uncertainly. The other Trainer merely glared at him.  
"Why did you have to come back?" he hissed abruptly, shattering the building silence.  
"I-I..." N was taken aback by the other's hostility.  
"Well?" Cheren snapped. N fidgeted uncomfortably.  
"Because my mind has been expanded, broadened...and because of her. I miss her so very much..."

"Who?" Cheren pressed, stepping threateningly closer, plunging N further into confusion.  
"Cheren, I've become a better person-"  
"WHO?" Cheren thundered, livid.  
"White. Ludvina Whitelea Shale. I came back for her, but...she wasn't here anymore. In Unova, I mean. I couldn't find her..."  
His brow scrunched in bemusement. Cheren smirked, mind whirring.

"Did you ever stop to think," he began with newfound relish, "that maybe she was avoiding you? That she didn't and doesn't want to see you? She _loathes_ you. You _crushed_ her. She _despises_ you."

His lip curled upward in cruel satisfaction as shock and pain played across the former king's features. N stumbled.  
"I don't know why, Cheren, but you're lying," he quavered.  
"If that's so, then where is she? Why wasn't she here waiting?"  
"I don't know. I don't know where she is or where she's been," N whispered, growing thoughtfully silent. His eyes shone with sadness. Cheren advanced further.

"Don't you think I know what she feels? We've been friends since our early childhood!"  
He paused to glare in contempt at a contemplative N. "Oh, and let's not forget the people of Unova, who you almost successfully subjugated. They may not be wrathful avengers, but they don't have to like you or retain any kindness for you, either. Maybe Ghetsis was right about you. Maybe Lu is repulsed by your hairy heart or queerness. Maybe she can't stand the sight of you."

N stared quietly at his feet. "Maybe you're right," he murmured, glancing at Cheren, who eyed him coldly. N turned slowly to the hole in the wall. Light was shimmering beautifully around the edges, seemingly just like that day nearly three years prior. He called Yang to his side and flew off. Cheren smirked in satisfaction.

And a horrified Bianca and Jasper, who had also cone to visit the former King, stood frozen in shock in the shadows, gaping, eyes wide and hands covering their faces, having seen and heard everything.

White was stiff when she came to, having fallen awkwardly on the hard cave floor. Blinking rapidly, she brought the letter to eye level a second time to reexamine it. Her eyes skimmed over the now beloved handwriting. She swallowed and remembered the other paper. White searched for it. She picked it up, dusting the snow off of it. It was a photograph.

She and N were jubilant as they stood on a bridge overlooking a portion of the ocean. Her then-Servine and his then-Zorua, Szev and Wraith, respectively, were by their sides. White was laughing, and N had that curious expression he wore when he was happy, a kind of thoughtful half-smile. They had their arms around each other, touching the other's pokémon. Wraith was in her arms and Szev was draped around his shoulders. White bit back a sob, turning the picture over. _Ludvina Whitelea Shale and Natural Harminia Gropius, 13 and 14, with Szev and Wraith, Spring_ was written near the bottom in minuscule writing, the same script from the letter.

White clutched the photo to her breast. She stood and stared out of the cave mouth. Her stiff fingers dug an old charcoal pencil from the depths of her bag. She scratched a short, quick message onto a slip of paper and tied it onto Pi.

"Return!" she called, withdrawing all of her Poké Balls, repeating the gesture in a flurry of movement until only Pi and one empty Ultra Ball remained. She stooped to his level. "Find him," she whispered, kissing Pi's beak, and he knew without asking who she meant. He took a running start and soared out of the cave, catching a thermal. White followed more slowly, coming to stand on the cliff edge a few feet away, mountains all she could glimpse for miles around. Raising her voice, she called, "Today is the day of our return!"  
A roar in the distance answered her. A great beast landed beside her, wings extended, ancient eyes regarding her.  
_'Today we go home?_' Yin asked. White hoisted her bag higher on her shoulders.  
"Yes. Today we go home. Because home is where N is."  
Zekrom roared again, the sound reverberating for miles.

"I can't believe Cheren did that," Bianca whispered in quiet dismay to Jasper. Her brother was equally troubled, intelligent green eyes shimmering with disbelief. He pushed a strand of his strawberry-blond hair behind his ear; it was just as long as his sister's.  
"He was so cold...I didn't know he was scalable," she continued. Jasper nodded.  
"Anyone is capable of grievous acts."  
His eyes flashed in disappointment. "You know how he loved both of them, and how betrayed and hurt he became. And now he's probably got jealousy eating away at him."

Bianca nodded, chin trembling. "And after I finally tracked him down and got him alone to explain, and he sent Pi to her, he won't even be here anymore! They'll miss each other again!"  
"Have you tried her Xtranaciver?" Jasper proposed.  
"It must be broken. She's been off the grid since she left."  
Jasper mussed his hair and puffed his cheeks in frustration, exhaling angrily. He paced for a minute. His head snapped up.  
"Do you have his number?" Hope was saturating his tone.  
Crying now, Bianca replied, "N's number? No, no I don't."

N was flying so high that he felt lightheaded. Tears stung the corners of his eyes. At the moment, it felt as if everything Cheren said was true. He didn't even belong with Concordia and Anthea; it was just familial obligation. He would go where no one would find him. He would plunge into the wild that had nurtured him during his youngest days.  
_'N,'_ Yang began, _'I hear a cry from my brethren...'_  
Then he heard it too: a cry of distress, unmistakable even at that altitude. With a determined air, they dived.

White was flying madly towards N's castle. She was sure she was technically in Unova by now, albeit largely uninhabited territory. She was flying lower than usual above the treetops. Out of nowhere, a shrill scream rent the still air. It was undeniably the cry of a pokémon. Wordlessly, White and Yin thought as one, spiraling downward toward the source.

Zekrom touched down in a field of tall, dark green, shoulder-height grass. The cry echoed harshly off of the tree trunks, bouncing off of every stone. White enlarged her Poké Balls and threw them out.  
"Find it!"  
They all went separate ways: Darla and Sprinkle towards the grove to the left, Yin to the gorge, and Yuna and Belectra to the hills off to the right. Szev and White took the dense forest. The foliage grew so thickly that the floor underneath the canopy was dark and gloomy, the murkiness shimmering strangely.

White had almost given up when the wailing, which had died down, began again, more pitiful than before. "Keep talking! I can hear you!" White called. The crying became increasingly desperate. Suddenly the trees opened up, not growing quite so close together. Szev hissing was all that kept the teen from tripping over the small, weak form. She bent down. A pair of eyes, one blue and one completely black, looked out at her.

N and Reshiram landed rather gracefully. He slid down off of her back and strained his ears. The cries were fainter, weaker, as if the cryer were losing consciousness. He sprinted into the dark beneath the trees without hesitation. The closer he got, the faster he ran.  
"Keep talking! I can hear you!"  
N froze, stumbling into a patch of briars. That voice. His legs whipped back into action, propelling him forward as fast as they could.

The branches scratched at his face and tore his clothes, but he didn't care, nor did the snide comments of the Forrest residents bother him. He had to know if it was she, and if it was, he had to know the truth. He would only leave entirely now with her ordering him away.

He broke through a wall of brambles, and there she was, visible through the knotted arms of an ancient tree . She was paler than he remembered, and leaner. Her curves were more pronounced, her hair tamer and the angles of her face more graceful. Her clothes were worn, and she seemed wearier. And dangling around her neck and in the middle of her chest was a locket, a Zoroua with wings. He had given her that; it was his personal mark.

She hadn't seemed to notice his appearance at first, being so absorbed in her work. N saw that White's expert hands were working deftly to pry open the steel jaws of a cruel trap enough so that what appeared to be a small male child with mismatched eyes could slither free. It whimpered like a pokémon once more, and N knew it was a Zorua in disguise. He watched as White jammed a stone between the wicked teeth, using the few gained seconds to pull the creature's leg free.

It let loose one last pained yelp, continuing to whimper as N watched her at work, setting the leg and spraying it with potions, daubing an extra poultice on just in case.  
"There," she announced quietly with satisfaction, "all done, little one. I'm guessing you're a Zorua or Zoroark. My name is White, and I won't try to capture you or make you a part of my team. But I will love you, if you want, and I can take you far away from here, out of the danger, so we can be friends."

N smiled. She almost sounded like him. N turned to leave-only finding his way blocked by White's pokémon, minus Zekrom and Szev. They warily looked him up and down, then, ever so cautiously, they each expressed some form of affection for him. Wraith appeared from his party and looked around. Just as quickly, they all went to White, leaving him, chattering excitedly. She smiled and laughed, still not understanding their speech like N. They sniffed the Zorua-which was currently a little boy of five-and greeted it.

White withdrew her party, leaving herself alone with it. She gingerly scooped it up and held it to her chest tenderly. The little creature clung to her. It scented the air, frowning. Then it did the unexpected and lifted a finger to point in his direction. Sucking in his breath, N stepped out, sunlight shinning at the right moment so that it highlighted who he was. White gasped, swore, and nearly dropped the injured spirit in her arms.

She set the Zorua down. And promptly ran to N, flinging her arms around him and knocking into him so hard on impact that they went sprawling among the many gnarled roots crisscrossing the ground.  
"N," White breathed. N simply held her, wondering how she could contradict Cheren so violently within moments of noticing him.


	4. Fancy Seeing You

**Ch.4: Fancy Seeing You**

****

She had found him. After nearly three years of his vanishing without a trace, she was looking at him, breathing him. He smelled like spicy sunshine and wild honeysuckle and clean linen. White clutched at him, holding as much of N as she could. She rolled away and propped herself up on one elbow. N was observing her so intently with those innocent eyes of his that White prayed there wasn't a firework display of red on her cheeks.

She frowned at the look of uncertainty and doubt on his face. "N, didn't you want to see me?" she choked. His eyed widened.  
"Of course I did. I just wasn't sure you wanted to see me."  
White's eyes flashed. She lunged forward and pushed him down, pinning him playfully. Her face became serious.  
"I'll always want to see you."  
She put her ear over his heart, sighing and closing her eyes. "Remember the river?"  
The vibrations his voice made tickled her ear.  
"I remember all of it."

N rolled them over on their sides.  
"I remember that you're ticklish," N declared, smirking cheerfully.  
"You wouldn't-AH! Hee-hee, N, STOP!" she shrieked. She pushed at his chest, laughing madly. Eventually, N stopped torturing her, and they lay on their backs gazing upward.

White turned her head towards N. He was wearing that peculiar smile of his, and his eyes were shut. She wondered vaguely if he was asleep. White took his hand in hers, tracing invisible patterns on his palm and wrist.  
"Will you leave me again, N?"  
Without moving or opening his eyes, he replied, "I'll never let you go, but I'll leave if you can't stand me. I keep my promises."

The Far Wandering Champion crawled over to the former Plasma King and poked him until be looked at her.  
"Let's go somewhere."  
He looked at her owlishly. "Where?"  
"Anywhere you want," White said softly. N seemed to consider. He worried his lip and stuck the tip of his tongue out of the side of his mouth.  
"Well," he began slowly, "Shouldn't you go home first and see your family?"

White bit the insides of her cheeks. Of course he would try to think of her first.  
"Yes," she agreed quickly, "but what about after? Why don't we see where we've both been, and go somewhere we both like?"  
N nodded, smiling at her again. Her heart tripped over its running-shoe laces and her stomach flipped.  
"So," she began, grinning mischievously to hide her blush, "Who's driving?"

N gripped her hand as they gazed at Nuvema Town through the burgeoning greenery. He wasn't sure if he should go with her, even if she wanted him to. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was biting her finger and pinching the bridge of her nose. He didn't know if she was conscious of the action or not.

"It's...been a while," White muttered. He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.  
"It's time you showed yourself," he murmured. White nodded. "I could say the same of you."  
"I suppose you could," he mused amusedly. So they stepped into the open together and walked to her house: A house with neither of them.

N didn't quite know what to say as they walked towards the last house on the left, or when White silently produced a key from somewhere and made it disappear just as fast once the lock clicked open. She gave his hand one last final squeeze to garner the courage she needed to push her way inside.

The hall was dark. White carefully navigated N around a table and a potted plant, stopping short of the parlor, where the light of one lamp shown like a beacon. Suddenly she drew back against his chest, knotting the hem of his shirt with her fingers. Her hands said what she couldn't: I'm scared. I don't know if I can do this. I need you so I can do this.

So of course he did the only natural thing: he hugged her against him and whispered in her ear. "You've got this."  
He released her. White stood still only a moment longer. Taking a shaky breath and mussing her hair, she stepped through the doorway. N wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He decided to stay silent and immobile in the hallway. White would come back for him when she was ready.

White held her breath once she was actually in the room. River was asleep in her recliner. A book lay open in her lap. A few wisps of her brown hair, which fell over one shoulder in a side ponytail, had grayed. At first White could only stare. She bit her lip and threw a glance over her shoulder at the door.

Leaning down, she carefully grasped River's shoulder and began gently shaking her. "Mom, mom wake up," she whispered, repeating herself, raising her voice. Her mother's eyelids fluttered and she mumbled something unintelligible. Then her eyes opened and she was looking right at her. River stared at her squarely. Confusion flooded her features. A second later, clarity came, and with a muffled cry she pulled White off of her feet into the chair with her. It groaned softly, but she didn't seem to notice. She rained kisses down upon her face and hair. "Oh my baby, my sweet, my heart, my girl!" she cried. White squirmed but stayed where she was. Her mother smelled nice in a different way than N, and it felt nice to be cuddled like a baby after carrying the world on her slender shoulders for years.

Eventually, White scrambled into a more dignified pose. She cleared her throat and let River stroke her hair. "Mom, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I found him."

River stiffened, her shoulders tensing, her hand halting abruptly, and her mouth thinning into a flat line. Out in the hallway, N looked up in surprise. River gave a long, weary sigh. "Well, that's what you wanted, isn't it? What happened, what did he say?"

"Mom, he came with me. He was looking for me, too…he told me…"

"I know he was looking for you. Some other girl came by here and she was so much like you that I thought…I thought it was my child home at last, but…it wasn't. She walked and talked like you, and her eyes had that same intensity. Juniper, Cheren, Bianca, Jasper, Luddy…we've all been missing you and when that new girl came along it was like having you back. But you say he's here?"

Her eyes went to the hall. "I know what pain his leaving caused you, and yet I have also heard how diminished he seemed, and how he never stopped looking for you. It's like what your father used to say to me, "_Today, tomorrow, always."_

There were tears in her eyes. She hugged her daughter close to her heart. "Be safe. See the others before you go."

White parted her lips in confusion. "But how did you- "

River laughed. "You're a Shale, a rover. Your father always found the forest in a storm or a cave preferable to a feather bed. He and I traveled at midnight and only settled because of you and your brother, and good friends. It's in your blood. I hear Undella Town and the Sevii Isles are nice this time of year."

They embraced each other and stood together. River's sharp eyes honed in on the extra shadow in the hall. "Take care of her, N."

N cleared his throat and nodded. "You don't have to worry. I won't hurt her again."

Bianca was with Jasper in the family garden when a throat was cleared behind them. She stumbled into a bench. Jasper glanced up from watering the begonias. He set the watering can down and shook the soil from his gloved hands. Bianca pulled up by the arm of the same bench that made her stumble.

"You found her! We thought after what Cheren said that maybe- "

"And what, exactly, did Cheren say?" White hissed, catching onto her friend's tone and expression. Bianca. Bianca paled and told her everything.

"What the bloody freaking hell?" White shrieked. Bianca grasped for and missed her friend's hand as she spun away and stormed off. "That stuck up pen-licking prick! When I get to his effing Zekrom forsaken arse- "

The remaining three hurried after her, losing the last of her words as she rounded the house. They heard a roar and an enormous shadow passed over the grounds.

"Oh dear," Bianca fretted, "She's going to kill him."

"She's going to kick his bony, bespectacled ass," Jasper added.

"I should stop her," N said. He glanced uncertainly at the other two. "Shouldn't I?"

"Whatever floats your boat," Jasper shrugged. Then he went back to gardening. Bianca bit her lip and ran after White. N followed.

Cheren was just sending away another defeated challenger when the doors to the gym burst inward to bang loudly against the walls. Every trainer inside scurried out of the raging Trainers way. She was, after all, one of the best in the world, and she also happened to have taken fighting and defense classes. The Leader seemed to brighten at the sight of her and his shoulders lifted. He stepped off of his dais.

"Hey, Lou, good to see you," he greeted.

"Funny you should mention my presence," she spat through gritted teeth, right before knocking him out with a swift left hook and sending his glasses flying.

People rushed past her, bumping her shoulders to examine their fallen Leader. Someone whistled.

"Damn, a one-hit-KO," a voice in the crowd whispered in awe. The doors burst open a second time. N and Bianca rushed in, Bianca struggling to pull a Pok**é**ball from her purse and N with his Zoroark at his side.They skidded to a halt. "Oh my," Bianca swallowed, "I see you've, err, taken care of this."

N looked like he was going to reply when White pivoted on her heel and yanked him by the arm towards the doors.

"We're leaving. Come if you're coming, Bianca," White snapped out. Bianca yelped and hurried out after them. She was on the front step when White and N were mounting their dragons.

"Send you a postcard," White called, waving, apparently appeased. N was frowning.  
"What about Black?"

"That's the last stop before our departure," White replied, kicking off. Bianca's clothes and hair billowed in the wind the dragons created, her hand clamped over her hat. As they flew away, she dialed Ludwig Blacklea Hale to tell him his sister was searching for him. And, of course, Jasper. He was going to want to hear everything.


End file.
